Crafty thoughts please

Two years ago I sewed a fabric sandwich wrap for my daughter to use at preschool (which has a no lunch box policy as they must refrigerate all food and cannot fit 30 lunchboxes in their fridge). I lined it with a zip-lock bag to make it waterproof and with care, it has lasted for the two years. Just.

The lining had became torn by the end of last year so it was time to either replace it or try something else. In the comments on that post, Michelle shared that she had been making her own waterproof cotton by infusing it with beeswax, using these instructions from Dom's Beeswax in-site (the same Dom of the Kefir in-site, my kefir 'bible').



Fortunately, my mother had found some beeswax sheets leftover from a beeswax candle-making kit last year, which had become brittle and crumbled, and she gave them to me to use up.

I duly tried the technique last week, after peeling off the remaining plastic liner and removing the Velcro tabs. It's definitely water-proof, and it does smell lovely (although I'm not sure how a Vegemite sandwich will taste after being infused with a honey smell?), but as you can see in the photo, it's very stiff! And, frankly, looks a little unappealing; you can see the creases it in where I tried folding it up.

What do you think - did I use too much beeswax? Should I try again on a new wrapper using a smaller amount of wax?

It soaked through both sides of the wrap, so do you think it would work if I unpicked the two pieces and resewed the wrap using an untreated piece of fabric for the outer - bearing in mind that it's stiff, so I wonder if pulling it right-side-out again after sewing might be difficult?

Or do you think it will it soften over time and use, like a Drizabone coat does?

Or perhaps just abandon it altogether and use plain fabric napkins?!

Decisions, decisions!


Cheers,